Fibromyalgia and Costochondritis pain Help please!!

I went to see my Gp a while back with rib, chest and back spasms and he diagnosed this. I already thought i had it but wanted to make sure.

However this morning i was getting out the chair when my whole rib-cage locked and went into spasm and within seconds the pain spread all over my upper back and over my chest. The pains have now gone into my neck and head now and down my arms. Its killing me typing this.

I am just scared as know its FM pain but never experienced it as bad as this in years.

Taken pankillers and been sat with three wheatbags across my ribs as don't know what else to do.

How do others cope with this and what helps them please.

A very fed up and miserable Fm sufferer
Better go as setting it off mad again.

I have used lidoderm patches right away at the first sign of pain. Baclofen helps the spasms.
While I prefer heat, I find that cold works better. I've also used a product called pain not patches - no prescription needed. Log on to www.biotechresearch.com to read about it. It cleans your sinuses out at the same time!

So sorry you are in such pain. I have FINALLY found something that works on my Costochrondirist....they are FLECTOR patches. They are a rx pain patch that has anti inflammatory agent in it. I cut it and put it directly on the areas in pain. I can leave it on for 7 hours. I also ice the area and it seems to get under control.

I wish I have the same solution for the FM pain. That just has a mind of its own and nothing really gets rid of it.

I just posted about costochondritis, I am having a flare up of it right now. First, try to stay away from any kind of strong smells like perfume, room freshners, even strong smelling food, this will usually make costo worse and can even make you experience nausea.

What I usually have to do is fill up a hot water bottle, don't make it too hot, but very warm and just place across your chest. You may want to use a hand towel over the bottle just for comfort. Next, I just used Advil and I usually have to take about 400 milligrams.

I get the same thing you do with the chest muscle spasm where I feel like my whole chest has just locked up on me, very scary feeling. The last time this happened to me, I also experienced shallow breathing because of the uncomfortable feeling. Both my arms can sometimes feel sore as well.

I know this may sound weird, but try to avoid any emotional upsets and I know this is easier said than done, but really costochdritis can flare up when we are upset about something, or just plain worried, this may not be the case for you, but it is for me and it can just trigger it sometimes.

Also, because I believe that costo is an inflammatory problem, high sugar foods or alcohol can also flare it up, this isn't the case for everyone, but it is worth exploring.

As far as what else you can do, unfortunately, just wait it out, I know that doesn't help you much right now, but I found it's the only thing to do once it happens.

Finding out what triggers it is so much more challenging, because you just want to avoid it in the first place. Feel better, hugs, Chelz.